Revision summary
Food-processing policy now sits on PMKSY parks and cold chains, PLI for organised lines, and PMFME for micro units. Operation Greens and APEDA add price and export support; FSSAI sets the compliance bar. The tools have expanded capacity, but horticulture wastage and informal micro mills remain large. PLI helps scale; last-mile credit and reefer links still decide whether the farmer is paid. Evaluation: right scheme mix, incomplete last mile.
Model answer
Introduction
Food processing cuts farm waste, adds rural jobs, and lifts export value. Union policy has moved from a few parks to an umbrella of parks, cold chains, micro units, and production-linked incentive. Evaluation must test whether those tools reach the farmer and the small mill, not only the listed factory.
Body
What the policies do
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) funds mega food parks, integrated cold chains, agro-processing clusters, and food-testing labs so perishables can move from mandi to factory.
- The Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) pays incremental sales in ready-to-eat, marine, millet, and similar lines to pull organised capacity.
- PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) gives credit-linked subsidy, branding, and common infrastructure to household and SHG units under One District One Product.
- Operation Greens (TOP to TOTAL) and APEDA/MPEDA export support try to steady tomato, onion, potato, and processed-food prices and shipments.
- FSSAI standards and the National Institute of Food Technology set the quality bar without which parks cannot sell into organised retail.
Limits of the evaluation
- Cold-chain coverage is still thin in horticulture belts, so wastage remains high even after SAMPADA parks.
- PLI rewards scale; PMFME’s last-mile credit and cluster common facilities are slower, so micro units stay informal.
- Power, last-mile roads, and mandi lot quality often decide plant utilisation more than a park notification.
- Related industries (packaging, reefer trucks, testing) grow only where the primary crop bulk is reliable.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD F[Farm mandi lot] --> P[PMKSY park cold chain] F --> M[PMFME micro unit] P --> L[PLISFPI organised sales] M --> L L --> E[Retail export FSSAI] G[Gaps credit cold last mile] --> P G --> M
Conclusion
GoI policy is rightly clustered around PMKSY, PLISFPI, and PMFME, with FSSAI as the quality gate. The evaluation is mixed: organised capacity and exports have improved, but cold chain, credit to micro units, and farm-gate lots still lag, so processing has not yet absorbed a large share of perishable output.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Next question in the 2023 paper (Q2). View answer →
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Is irrigation PMKSY the same as food-processing PMKSY?
No. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana is irrigation. Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana is the processing and cold-chain umbrella named here.
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Does a mega food park by itself raise farm prices?
Only if lots, power, and cold links actually run. An empty park does not process the crop.
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